Objectives: Early and accurate diagnosis remains crucial in the therapeutic management of invasive central nervous system fungal infections. Different molds have intrinsic resistance to antifungal agents; thus, morphologic differentiation is helpful to clinicians.
Methods: Using three examples, we present a guide on how to approach neuropathology specimens where hyphae are identified on initial histologic examination.
Results: Hyphae can be classified into three basic groups: hyaline pauciseptated, hyaline septated, and pigmented or dematiaceous. The hyaline pauciseptated group includes the order of the Mucorales (previously Zygomyces) and is frequent in patients with decompensated diabetes and severe neutropenia. Aspergillus species constitutes the most frequently isolated mold in the hyaline septated group. However, other invasive hyaline septated molds include Fusarium species, which is frequently resistant to multiple antifungals, and Candida species Last, dematiaceous molds, although infrequent, can be found in neuropathology specimens, as happened during the outbreak of Exserohilum associated with manufacturing practices in a compound pharmacy.
Conclusions: Categorizing hyphae into the three groups described allows pathologists to provide information that is useful for infectious disease treatment with an inclusive differential diagnosis of diverse fungal genera that share the same morphological features.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajcp/aqx144 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Hyperphosphorylated Tau and Cognition in Epilepsy.
J Clin Med
January 2025
Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn (UKB), 53127 Bonn, Germany.
In light of the growing interest in the bidirectional relationship between epilepsy and dementia, this review aims to provide an overview of the role of hyperphosphorylated tau (pTau) in cognition in human epilepsy. A literature search identified five relevant studies. All of them examined pTau burden in surgical biopsy specimens from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute therapeutic effects and pathophysiology of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis neuropathy.
BMJ Neurol Open
January 2025
Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Japan.
Objective: This study investigated the effects of early treatment and pathophysiology on eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis neuropathy (EGPA-N).
Methods: Twenty-six consecutive patients with EGPA-N were diagnosed and treated within a day of admission and underwent clinical analysis. Peripheral nerve recovery rates were evaluated after early treatment by identifying the damaged peripheral nerve through detailed neurological findings.
Rathke cleft cyst with squamous metaplasia and activating mutations of mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling: illustrative case.
J Neurosurg Case Lessons
January 2025
Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Background: Rathke cleft cysts (RCCs) are benign sellar/suprasellar lesions that result from mucin-secreting vestigial remnants within the pars intermedia of the pituitary gland. When symptomatic, they can present with retro-orbital headaches, visual field defects, and/or pituitary dysfunction.
Observations: A 35-year-old female presented with subacute retro-orbital headache, right ptosis, and blurred vision.
Temporal lobe epilepsy with isolated amygdala enlargement: anatomo-electro-clinical features and long-term outcome.
J Neurol
January 2025
Epilepsy Unit - Sleep Disorders Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Background: Temporal lobe epilepsy with isolated amygdala enlargement (TLE-AE) still lacks a definite characterization and controversies exist.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study identifying brain MRI scans with isolated AE between 2015 and 2021. We collected clinical and paraclinical data of patients with TLE-AE and evaluated the outcome.
Biopsy location and tumor-associated macrophages in predicting malignant glioma recurrence using an in-silico model.
NPJ Syst Biol Appl
January 2025
Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences (CIDS), Department Information Services and High-Performance Computing (ZIH), Dresden University of Technology, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
Predicting the biological behavior and time to recurrence (TTR) of high-grade diffuse gliomas (HGG) after maximum safe neurosurgical resection and combined radiation and chemotherapy plays a pivotal role in planning clinical follow-up, selecting potentially necessary second-line treatment and improving the quality of life for patients diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The current standard-of-care (SoC) for HGG includes follow-up neuroradiological imaging to detect recurrence as early as possible and relies on several clinical, neuropathological, and radiological prognostic factors, which have limited accuracy in predicting TTR. In this study, using an in-silico analysis, we aim to improve predictive power for TTR by considering the role of (i) prognostically relevant information available through diagnostics used in the current SoC, (ii) advanced image-based information not currently part of the standard diagnostic workup, such as tumor-normal tissue interface (edge) features and quantitative data specific to biopsy positions within the tumor, and (iii) information on tumor-associated macrophages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!